Indrid Cold:
" If we die and just disappear then Richard Dawkins and I are both ok with that. However, according to my personal experience I don't think that's what happens."

--- care to share a couple (or simply 1) experience that has impacted your thinking on this?
I vaguely recall you referencing these experiences at RI as well, and may have provided a couple examples, but I simply "misremembered", the result of rogue synapses firing off within a cortex of my mind...

I'm the same BSavant from RI; don't have as much time to be posting these days, but received PMs from Jason and C_D about this space and figured I'd stop by and check-in.

I'll aim to contribute once my schedule lightens, but even from a cursory glance it appears to be a welcome reprieve from frenetic/fevered paste dumps.

Howdy folks. I was Agent Orange Cooper over at the RI forums, which I have forsaken. Not sure how much I'll contribute here but I will definitely be (& have been) lurking. I just can't say no to a decent discussion forum.

I run a twitter account for Crypto-Kubrology, where I post a variety of systematic numerological breakdowns of world events, history, people, cinema, and Kubrick. Follow if you're interested: http://www.twitter.com/cryptokubrology

Howdy folks. I was Agent Orange Cooper over at the RI forums, which I have forsaken. Not sure how much I'll contribute here but I will definitely be (& have been) lurking. I just can't say no to a decent discussion forum.

I run a twitter account for Crypto-Kubrology, where I post a variety of systematic numerological breakdowns of world events, history, people, cinema, and Kubrick. Follow if you're interested: http://www.twitter.com/cryptokubrology

Agent Orange Cooper, considering your name you might be interested to know that I was at South By Southwest music festival this past weekend and Showtime had a large Twin Peaks-themed area set up to promote the new season. Not only that, but I heard from several people that Kyle McLaughlan was present on the first day!

Indrid Cold:
" If we die and just disappear then Richard Dawkins and I are both ok with that. However, according to my personal experience I don't think that's what happens."

--- care to share a couple (or simply 1) experience that has impacted your thinking on this?
I vaguely recall you referencing these experiences at RI as well, and may have provided a couple examples, but I simply "misremembered", the result of rogue synapses firing off within a cortex of my mind...

I'm the same BSavant from RI; don't have as much time to be posting these days, but received PMs from Jason and C_D about this space and figured I'd stop by and check-in.

I'll aim to contribute once my schedule lightens, but even from a cursory glance it appears to be a welcome reprieve from frenetic/fevered paste dumps.

I have had some classic "experiences", such as during my ayahuasca ceremonies in Peru (which happened a LONG time ago before the current craze ) - During my final ceremony I did have the experience of "joy" for the first and only time in my life. I would describe it as someone pulling back a black covering that is completely enveloping me, and beyond that covering I see and feel clearly that god or the supreme being is present and loves me, and then the covering was put back. I realized that I have never truly experienced happiness in my entire life. The feeling had a long reverberation so that it made quite an imprint, but at this point so many years later it is only a memory.

Ultimately though, I think those types of experiences have had a smaller effect on my present point of view than you might think. I see them as more of a simple catalyst that told me it was ok to think in a way that is different than the people around me. They set me down a road, and walking down that road was the important thing, rather than the experience that initially impelled me. I don't know that such a single experience would be enough to fundamentally change me, because I tend to have a vivid imagination and I wouldn't put all my trust into a single experience like that.

Agent Orange Cooper, considering your name you might be interested to know that I was at South By Southwest music festival this past weekend and Showtime had a large Twin Peaks-themed area set up to promote the new season. Not only that, but I heard from several people that Kyle McLaughlan was present on the first day!

Sounds fun. I'm not a mega-fan by any means (the handle was gifted to me by my partner & I couldn't resist the pun), but I am most curious to see how this new season (series?) will turn out... hopefully not like the recent Arrested Development revival. The passage of time destroyed the magic on that one, & I hope this is different. But Twin Peaks-dressing aside, simply the prospect of a new David Lynch production excites me. There are very few filmmakers/artists running around out there like Lynch anymore (if any at all).

Hello All. I am new. Found the liminalist podcast and concept a few weeks ago and I'm hooked. It's been a long time since I singed up for a regular old web forum. I've read through a bit of this board and already feel totally prepared to lurk here and occasionally chime in. I've been studying and reading on all things "truth" and/or taboo for what feels like aeons.

...went to look at the members list, and I came in at number 33. Great. Just great.

beyond that covering I see and feel clearly that god or the supreme being is present and loves me.

I find that very interesting.Did that experience incline you to seek out any sort of spiritual practices?

I did suddenly find myself extremely drawn towards the Castaneda books. I had read the first one in the past and it had absolutely no impact upon me whatsoever. After the Peru experience I read it again, and the book for me was entirely transformed. It was suddenly very personal, I read and/or listened to the words of don Juan every single day for years after that. I read depictions in those books of things I had experienced in the Peru ceremonies, I also taught myself lucid dreaming through those books, something that I had wanted to learn my entire life. Like Gurdjieff, there is a feeling inside of me that I actually know and have some sort of friendship with this person, and I feel grateful to them.

I'm definitely familiar with all the Castaneda controversies, but I cannot allow myself to hold social opinions in high regard when it comes to my aims. If one holds fast inside to their destination then all things exist only to bring one closer to it. That is the purpose of the world. One just has to be ok with being perceived as a fool and seek that particular thing which ignites his heart enough to break the inertia and cynicism and despair that is brought about by exposure to this corrupt world.

So in summary, you get to have a trophy of the victory or the victory itself, but not both.

Haha that sounds ridiculous, I wish I could be clearer about these things but the words are difficult to find.

Some people here may recognise my username and avatar, which I will probably change once I settle in. The timing of my arrival will indicate to some which route I've taken to get here but rest assured that I will keeping any related discussion to the bare minimum (some mentions are unavoidable for reference purposes).

As to my intentions, I plan to continue more or less where I left off (plus some developments), but hopefully won't have to edit myself so brutally in this environment.

Finally, thanks to CD** for setting this place up and administering it (presumably there is no shadowy figure in the background).. seems there was still some charge in the 'ole batteries yet .

** Haha, just noticed.... "Coffindogger". A new twist on necrophilia perhaps?

Ah yes, coffindogger - slad coined that one for me a few minutes after I voiced my opinion that 'them damn Russians' is possibly, just possibly, bogus.
It may be true, but at least have a think about alternatives.

Glad to see you here Jakell - I once pm'd a fellow poster at RI that I found you odd... and mayhap I still do (the juries out, mate ), but that blistering return of yours at the end of my time at RI was rather impressive. Ballsy.

Anything goes here mate, just word it correctly and be civilised.

I sound like a stern school teacher. I'm not, honestly.

Interested to hear about 'developments'. I hope you're not over-selling what you have in store for us.

The essence of the Bene Gesserit training philosophy was that, if one could control oneself, or "know thyself," ultimately one could control the universe. Its first axiom was "My mind controls my reality." The training itself was based on a series of progressive exercises, lasting approximately ten years, which gave the student power to control herself mentally, physically, and psychologically, and to control others. This control was used not to withdraw to an internal fantasy world but rather to observe and understand reality with detached objectivity. Thus, the prana-bindu training, begun if possible during the child's first year of life, assured the candidate that mastery of herself was mastery of illusion, both of her own and of other people's as well.

Studying the details of Bene Gesserit training would allow one to understand why the Sisterhood acquired a reputation as keen analysts, expert "seers," and fearsome fighters. The "weirding ways" seen by outsiders were actually the results of a long process of self-discipline which developed the ability to analyze and synthesize information not only in an environment of peace but also under stress. Two precepts in Bene Gesserit training highlighted this philosophy. The first showed the necessity of discipline: "To use raw power is to make yourself infinitely vulnerable to greater powers", and the second dealt with practical application of the training: "The mind can go in either direction under stress - toward positive or toward negative: think of it as a spectrum whose extremes are unconsciousness at the negative end and hyperconsciousness at the positive end." Thus the goal of the training was to ensure that the adept would have her power under control whatever the situation. However, there was a fatal weakness inherent in this training: great control could lead to great confidence, to overconfidence, and finally, to an ultimate loss of objectivity - to vanity and pride. Therefore candidates were continually evaluated and given tasks which forced them to work with people more skilled than themselves, and some exercises were specifically designed to prevent vanity about the student's growing strength. For example, the third-year training section opened with this caution: "All proof inevitably leads to propositions which have no proof. All things are known because we want to believe in them."